226 Ra, 228 Ra and 40 K Concentrations in Some Plant Seeds Consumed in Jordan

Abstract

Eleven types of seeds consumed by Jordanian people were investigated to determine the concentration levels of ²²⁶Ra,²²⁸Ra and⁴⁰K radionuclides. The calculated concentration ranges from 0.214 ± 0.017 to 7.583 ± 0.592 Bq/kg_dry , 10.629 ± 0.914 Bq/kg_dry and 92.0 ± 7.61 to 576 ± 46.22 Bq/kg_dry for ²²⁶Ra,²²⁸Ra and ⁴⁰K, respectively. The total annual effective dose that resulted from consuming the selected seeds by ingestion was 35.17 µSv/year, whereas the cancer risk ranges between 1.58×10^-6fr om fennel and23.53×10^-6 due to beans. However, the average cancer risk value was 7.74×10^-6 , which is less than the world average cancer risk value 3mSv/year.

Keywords: Radionuclides, Concentration, Annual effective dose, Cancer risk.